It’s been over 10 years since I read “Haroun and Sea of Stories“, and while I don’t particularly remember any of the plot I do remember enjoying the pace of the wordplay and the joy of the writing. It’s sequel “Luka and the Fire of Life” leaves me with much the same sense, well-played wordplay and joyful writing, as Rushdie continues to update the genre of fable. Fun and worth-reading.

I’d say that I like how Ian McEwan writes, rather than liking anything that he has written. I haven’t read Atonement, but I have read Saturday (2005), On Chesil Beach (2007), and now Solar (2010).

Solar’s Michael Beard isn’t as unlikable as the commenters would have one think, and the story itself – aging, decline, science, romance, murder mystery, and a bit of Larry Summers for good measure – isn’t particularly bad. Or good.

There was one brief passage that I did like very much (and epitomized my sense of “Solar”):

“…he thought he saw it for the first time: on the day he died he would be wearing unmatching socks, there would be unanswered e-mails, and in the hovel he called home there would still be shirts missing cuff buttons, a malfunctioning light in the hall, and unpaid bills, uncleared attics, dead flies, friends waiting for a reply, and lovers he had not owned up to. Oblivion, the last word in organization, would be his only consolation.”

It’s like they say, you’ll never read Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman for the first time again! Lightman (wikipedia) goes back to familiar ground – contextualizing the laws of the physical world – in a creation story that is certainly no more or less credible than any of the creation stories that are commonly in circulation. If you’re a fan of Lightman’s style of science embedded in fiction (which is in it’s way very distinct from science fiction), then you’ll like it (even if it’s not exactly as accessible as Einstein’s Dreams). If you’ve never read anything by Lightman before, start with Einstein’s Dreams.

I saw Jhumpa Lahiri read from (and talk about) Unaccustomed Earth in May at the University of Chicago.

I’ve heard Lahiri talk three times now, after each of her major works, and have to say that my appreciation for her has shifted.

At first, I was intrigued by the novelty of the identities that she explored and her ability to convey a scene of emotion. What impressed me most about her latest work “Unaccustomed Earth” though, was her ability to intertwine the various short stories both directly through characters and indirectly through themes.

The more I think about Unaccustomed Earth the more I want to recommend it (and reread some of the stories).